Contact device for electric railways



' (No Model.) i ZSheets-Sheet 1.

- J. C. LOVE.

I CONTACT DEVICE FOR ELECTRIC RAILWAYS. No. 469,861;

PatentedMar. 1, 1892.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

J.0,L0v CONTACT DEVICE FOR ELECTRIC RAILWAYS.

N0. 469,861.' Patented Mar. 1, 1892.

WIITIW NITED STAT S PATENT FFrcE.

JOHN C. LOVE, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO THE LOVE ELECTRIC TRACTION COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

CONTACT DEVICE FOR ELECTRIC RAILWAYS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 469,861, dated March 1, 1 892. Application filed June 16, 1891. Serial No. 396,457. (No model.)

T0 at whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN 0. LOVE, of Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Contact Devices for Electric Roads; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

- This invention relates tothe improvement in upward-pressure contact devices of electric railways of that class having overhead oonducting-wires, and has reference more especially to the construction of the joint'or connection. by which the pole carrying a trolley or contact wheel is connected with the body of a car or vehicle.

The invention consists in the matters hereinafter described, andpointed out in the appended claim.

In the accompanying drawings, illustrating my invention, Figure 1 is a side View, partially in central vertical section, of a car provided both with contact devices for an overhead wire and with contact devices for conductors within the conduit. Fig. 2 is a detail plan view of the sections between the pole and the vehicle. Fig. 3 is a side view of the same. Fig. 4 is an end view of the same. Fig. 5 is a side view showing the parts in changed position.

As shown in said drawings, Fig-1, A is a vehicle, B an overhead line conductor, and C an underground slotted conduit containinga conducting-wire c.

D is a pole movably connected with the top of the car and provided with a trolley-wheel (1, adapted for upward-pressure contact with the line conductor B.

E is a vertically-movable contact device mounted on the car and adapted to be lowered into the conduit 0 for contact with the line conductor therein.

The contact device E is arranged to operate in the manner set forth in a prior patent, No. 381,396, dated April 17, 1888, granted to myself and J. F. Snediker, and constitutes no part of my present invention.

The car provided with two sets of contact block are engaged.

devices, as-shown, is adapted for use in cases where a part of the road is provided with an underground conduit containing the line conductor and in another part is provided with an overhead conductor, the drawings, Fig. 1, illustrating the point at which the conduit ends and the overhead conductor begins. The connection between the pole D and the top of the car is adapted to give free vertical and lateral movement to the upper end of the said pole and the trolley-wheel carried thereby, and is constructed as follows:

F is a block, preferably made of insulating material, such as hard rubber, which is at tached to the lower end of the pole D by means of the attachment herein shown as consisting of a casting D, provided with a socket to receive the lower end of the pole and bolted to the said block F. p

G G are two parallel metal bars secured to the block F at opposite sides of the same, and H H are swinging arms pivoted to the ends of said bars G G and extending downwardly and outwardly. Mounted upon the ends of said arms H H are grooved wheels or pulleys I I. Coiled springs H H extend from each of the arms 11 inwardly to the center of the block and are secured thereto by a suitable attachment, herein shown as consisting of two eyes F F, with which the ends of the springs'belonging to the pair of arms at each side of the Each pair of grooved wheels I I is'engaged with two opposite parallel stationary rods or wires J J, of which the lowermost rod J, or that nearest the top of the car, supports the weight of the block and its connected parts, while the uppermost rod J acts by its engagement with the grooves in the wheels to hold the latter in engagement with the lower wires. Said rods or wires are herein shown as held in position by being strained taut between two metal brackets 7'*, attached to the top of the car, this construction enabling the wires to' be held properly in I engagement with the grooves of the wheels, while at the same time being adapted to afford slight lateral movement in the said wheels when the latter are shifted out of their vertical positions.

When the current is carried through the pole D itself, the block F will be of insulating material, and a conducting-wire K will lead from the lower end of the pole to the top of the car for conducting the current from said pole to the conducting-wires upon the car which lead to the motor thereon. In some instances, however, a separate conductor may lead along the pole for carrying the current to the car, in which case the block need not be made of insulating materal, and in fact this latter construction is not essential when the current passes through the pole itself,inasmnch as a suitable insulation of the pole from the metal parts upon the car may be provided otherwise than by making said block entirely of insulating material.

By the swinging of the armsH H H H upon their pivots and the action of the springs connected with said arms the pole D tends to stand normally in a vertical position, so that the trolley-wheel on its end may properly press upwardly against the line conductor, and at the same time said pole may be swung or inclined laterally from its vertical position, as will occur in passing around curves. In these movements of the pole the grooved wheels or pulleys will move or roll toward and from each other between the rods or wires J J in an obvious manner. It will be clearly seen, for instance, that when the pole is inclined rearwardly, as shown in Fig.1, the block F will be thrown into an inclined position, thereby causing the arms H H at the forward end of the block to be drawn inwardly by the springs, while the arms at the rear end of the block will be straightened and the springsconnected therewith expanded. When the top of the pole is thrown laterally from its central position, the block F will be given a lateral inclination, the wheels on the lower side of said block in such case being thrown apart, while those on the higher side approach each other. Thisinclinedposition of the pole is clearly seen in Fig. 4, from which it will be or wires attached to the car and engaged with V the grooves of said wheels, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN 0. LOVE. Witnesses:

O. CLARENCE PooLE,

GEORGE W. HIGGINS, Jr. 

